Short answer: Most travel nurses sign contracts of up to 13 weeks and look for a furnished one-bedroom a short drive from their hospital. In Kansas City, the federal lodging rate that housing stipends are often compared against is $135 a night for fiscal 2026. Stays longer than 30 days also fall outside Kansas City, Missouri's short-term rental tax.
How long travel nurses stay
Travel nurses are registered nurses placed by staffing agencies to fill gaps at a hospital for a set period. Wikipedia's travel nursing overview says US contracts typically run 4 to 13 weeks, that 26-week assignments happen, and that contracts can be extended when the hospital still needs the help. For an owner, that usually means one guest for one to three months, sometimes followed by a second contract with the same nurse.
The same overview notes that nearly all agencies offer a housing stipend to nurses who find their own place. That is why so many of these guests book housing themselves instead of staying where the agency puts them.
Tax rules also play a part. Under IRS Publication 463, a work assignment expected to last one year or less counts as temporary, so the worker's tax home doesn't move. That is one reason contracts stay well under a year.
Where the demand is in Kansas City
Nurses want a short commute, so the homes that book best sit close to a hospital campus. The large campuses include:
| Hospital | Address |
|---|---|
| The University of Kansas Hospital | 4000 Cambridge St., Kansas City, KS |
| Saint Luke's Hospital of Kansas City | 4401 Wornall Rd., Kansas City, MO |
| Children's Mercy, Adele Hall Campus | 2401 Gillham Rd., Kansas City, MO |
| University Health Truman Medical Center | 2301 Holmes St., Kansas City, MO |
| Saint Luke's East Hospital | 100 NE Saint Luke's Blvd., Lee's Summit, MO |
The first four sit within a few miles of Midtown, Westport, the Plaza and Hospital Hill. Saint Luke's East is out in Lee's Summit, where the city limits nightly rentals and a monthly stay is the better fit. Our Lee's Summit page covers what the code allows there.
What nurses look for in a furnished rental
The home has to be ready to live in on day one. That means a made bed, a kitchen with cookware and dishes, a washer and dryer, Wi-Fi that holds up on a video call, and parking that doesn't depend on luck. The overview above says agency-provided housing is usually a furnished one-bedroom apartment, so that is the standard nurses compare you against.
Some details matter more for this guest than for a weekend visitor. A nurse working nights sleeps during the day, so blackout curtains in the bedroom are worth the small cost. Decide your pet policy before you list, since some nurses travel with a dog or cat and will filter on it. Keep move-in simple: a door code and clear written instructions beat a key handoff at the end of a shift.
How to price a monthly stay
The General Services Administration sets the federal lodging rate for each area. For fiscal 2026, the GSA rate for Kansas City, Missouri (Jackson, Clay, Cass and Platte counties) is $135 a night before taxes, the same every month. The Kansas City, Kansas and Overland Park rate, covering Wyandotte, Johnson and Leavenworth counties, is also $135.
That number is a reference point, not a price. Each agency sets its own stipend, and nurses compare your monthly price against what they actually receive. Price against comparable furnished one-bedrooms near the same hospital, then adjust for what your home offers.
Where you list matters too. Furnished Finder, a site built around traveling nurses, charges owners $199 a year per listing, according to its help center. Airbnb also takes monthly bookings, with its usual service fees.
Rules and taxes on stays over 30 days
Kansas City, Missouri's short-term rental tax FAQ treats a guest as transient when the stay is 30 days or fewer. A longer stay is non-transient, so the 7.5% accommodation tax and the $3 per room night fee don't apply to it. Instead, the city says you need a regular business license for properties you rent for more than 30 consecutive days at a time.
The zoning side lines up. The city's ban on non-resident short-term rentals in residential zones covers stays under 30 nights, so a monthly rental is often the way to earn from a home that can't run as a nightly Airbnb. To stay clear of both rules, book stays of 31 nights or more. Our Kansas City owner's guide explains the zoning rules.
Kansas works differently. KDOR Publication 1540 limits the transient guest tax to stays of 28 consecutive days or fewer, but it also says sleeping rooms are subject to sales tax regardless of the length of stay, with thresholds based on how many rooms you rent. Ask KDOR how that applies to a single home. Our Kansas City metro tax guide has the city-by-city rates.
Where we come in
We run furnished monthly rentals across the Kansas City metro for owners who don't want to do it themselves. We list the home where nurses search, screen each guest, handle move-in and checkout, clean and inspect between stays, coordinate repairs and send a monthly owner statement. Our standard fee is 15%, and we reply to every inquiry within one day. Our mid-term rental page has the details, and the services page lists everything management includes.